Faenza: from Promozione to Europe!

Faenza Calcio, a team is probably unknown by most of you. Located 35km far from Cesena (currently in Serie B), 50km from Bologna (Serie A) and 100km from Florence (Serie A), Faenza is a small town in central Italy, with a small team as well. At the end of 2014/15 season, its team got relegated in Promozione, the 6th tier of Italian football. In its ultra-centennial history, the main achievement Faenza reached was an important 1st place in Serie D/D in 1998, which led the team to play some seasons in Serie C2 (which was the 4th tier, at that time).
I wanted to bring some joy to that team, trying to take the lead from Promozione towards success in European competitions!

2015/16 - Promozione

The first season started with the hiring of some basic members of the staff, plus the signing of many players on free transfer (in 5th and 6th tier, teams are amateurs). The presence of many new players caused some misunderstandings during the first matches, leading the team not to play as cynically as I wanted to, but after some weeks the situation got better, bringing great results and points. The first part of the season has been a tête-à-tête with Reno Centese.
In January some important new players got in, such as Nicholas Redi (voted at the end of the season as best signing and favourite player by the supporters), Daniele Vacondio and Marco Bergamasco. The season ended with a brilliant first place, with 92 points, gained after 29 wins, 5 draws and 0 loss.
First season, first success!

2016/17 - Eccellenza

Faenza is back in Eccellenza! A new league brings new responsibilities, and even better players to keep them. The team has been mostly renewed, and being in the 5th tier gave us the possibility to get some players on loan from top teams in the country. The most important signings have been Adalgiso Pitbull (free transfer), Gabriele Gori (on loan from Fiorentina), Federico Chiesa (on loan from Fiorentina), Nichita Andronachi (on loan from Bologna), Emanuele Crema (on loan from Hellas Verona) and Lorenzo Bucci (from Lavezzola, chosen as player of the year). We encountered many problems on some matches, especially with Ribelle and Fidenza, which led to some losses, but the championship ended with an important first place, with 79 points and a direct promotion to Serie D.
In Eccellenza, every region has its cup, and we took part to it. The first round consisted in a group stage (in with every team faced each other once), that we asily won, defeating Formigine (1-0) and Meldola (2-1). Second and third round were direct-elimination rounds, and we passed both of them defeating Argentana (3-0) and Cattolica (3-1). The semifinal was structured with two matches, against Fidenza, the first one ended with a straight win (3-1) and the second one has been ath a draw (1-1). Salsomaggiore was the team we played the final against. It has been played in our stadium, and easily ended 3-0 for Faenza.
Winning a regional cup gives the ability to play Coppa Italia Dilettanti (amateurs cup), between all the winners, with three rounds and a final. We reached the final defeating Verdello (agg. 7-2), Spoleto (agg. 5-2) and Arzachena (agg. 1-1, penalties won). We found Pianese in the final. The second half ended 4-4, requiring extra-time, in with we scored twice, brightly winning 6-4.
Second season, two trophies!

2018/19 - Serie D

Oh, dear Serie D, we missed you so much! passing from Eccellenza to Serie D is an important step, as the team becomes semi-amater, giving you the possibility to sign part-time contracts, which means that players are way more tied to the team. Nice you'd say, but only if you have money to hold the financial load that it will bring and, well, Faenza hasn't got it. But, lucky us, some of our players decided to stay with us anyways, with amateur contracts! Some others got in, some on loan, as Gori and Chiesa (from Fiorentina, again), Crema (from Hellas Verona), and some permanently, as Morleo (which also played in Serie A with Bologna) and Schenetti. Approaching Serie D scared me a bit, to be honest. I thought it would have taken at least a couple of seasons to pass it, but I've never been happier to be proved wrong as, after some moths of tête-à-tête with Fano, we went straight forward reaching 7 points (a record of the league), scoring over 100 goals. Some loss have occurred, but they haven't stopped us.
Serie D has some rounds, based on different areas of the country. At the end of the regular season, there's a little tournament between all of the winners, in order to assign the Scudetto Dilettanti (the title of best non-professional team). As winners of our round (Serie D/D), we took part to it. The first round consisted in a group stage as the one in Coppa Eccellenza, in which we lost the first match (1-3 against Renate), but won the second one (3-0 against Campobasso), and proceeded as best 2nd placed team. unluckily we did not reach the final, as Lucchese stopped un in semifinal (agg. 5-7).
In that tier there also is a national cup, thought a bug in the file with gives the access to lower Italian tiers does not allow teams to go beyond 4th round, so we had to stop there, after defeating Caldiero Terme, Acri, Fontanafredda, Renate and Fano.
Third season, third promotion!